Somebody out there must have figured out a reliable method of replacing a dead motherboard without loosing installed XP or 2000. Preferably a way that doesn't include matching the old motherboard (or its chipset). I am tired of seeing the "blue screen of death" or the "NT loader not found" message.
SOMEBODY HELP!

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I think the best way is to over-write the os files. This can be done by choosing the repair option (not the initial repair option, but the second one which prompts ” There is an existing Winxp installaton. Do you want to repair”). This option will preserve all your existing programs/data. One more thing: if you have installed any winxp service pack, you will have to do that again. Cool…
Regards.
Sudheer.

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Repair should work - the only time I have seen it fail is if the replacement motherboard has a different chipset then the original (ie it was a via, now it's an nforce) Other than that if the only error you are seeing is the ntldr error - repair should take care of it.
Lirria

If you are lucky and can still get it to come up one more time, you can change the IDE controller to a Standard Type rather than a specific type. Then boot up the new motherboard in safe mode, and you will not need to reinstall the OS. Or you can replace the motherboard with one that has the same chipset family.

If you can get into Safe Mode after several reboots.
Remove audio, modem, and other non-essential drivers from device manager -- especially any ATA/IDE filter drivers (go generic on video and hard drives))
Install new chipset drivers now if possible (VIA runs from an install progam to load up HW database)
Run SYSPREP to make windows redetect all hardware on next reboot. If you couldn't install the new driver before you should fall back into generic mode giving you another chance to load chipset drivers.
Doing it this way should leave modern MS patches in place...unless they specifically say otherwise. Allow a fistful of reboots for all the self-repair patching to occur and real system stablity to come about. Yes you might get a blue screen or two in here while Windows shuffles system files.
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What really screws you up is if you had a really old motherboard or for some other reason (manually elected) had a "no ACPI" HAL and you new motherboard does. If the HAL changes you are screwed (unless you are a real tinker who put far too much time in BEING the MS OS installer).
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=249694
Otherwise I haven't had any real problems even when chipsets changed -- if you let it reboot enough -- even without the above procedure. There can be extensive redetections going on -- so don't freak at one or two blue screens XP and 2000 actually use blue screen logging to fix stuff. Now several of the same blue screens in a row are diffeent matter. Also use safe mode to uninstall old drivers (go generic resolutions etc) and after a reboot install new drivers. You will generally have to load the new chipset drivers to get out of generic mode.
Oh yes if you change driver order or move images from SCSI to ATA or vice versa you will need to edit boot.ini.
If you are a repair shop you should setup a server and store virgin images for the different chip makers. Generally the latest VIA driver package installs ASAP on any VIA platform.
Personally REPAIR would be my last resort. Often adding all the service packs and patches back is nearly as complex as total reinstall for the OS itself. True you may "SAVE" application install time but the repatching etc sometimes leaves the registry and .dlls that interface to the OS in an odd/suspicious state. If it is MS applications you can run the OFffice update etc...but again you now have almost done the same work as rebuilt from scratch.
Repair is most worthwhile if you know how your applications react from previous Repair actions -- so large institutions and repair shops gain the experience and can still find this useful if they are extra customer oriented. But most repair shops don't worry about more than a couple standard apps (MS office apps) without charging more. Larger institutions tend to use automated installs at least in shop if not at the users cubicle.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=249694

The "NT loader not found" is an issue all its own. Windows won't get past this.
But this can have several simple answers and solutions.
(1) Floppy in drive or floppy image in USB thumb drive from repair or prior use. Remove them.
(2) Boot order not set in BIOS (are you booting off the C: first or the floppy or a CD or etc?)
(3) Ntldr file is actually missing. This tends to say your old motherboard did not go quietly. Hard drive affected. You can get in though Repair console to copy just this one NTldr file from CD to disk system partition (usually the C:) You have to select a few other options first before copying will work. Then reboot.
Often the crash just rubbed the start of drive space a little and that is where ntldr is -- a soft repairable error, just rewrite the file.
However...you never can count on the disk being otherwise undamaged. A reinstall will ensure a redetection of flaws in the actual medium which can be marked out if permanent. And reinstall will ensure all files are good from the return of operation rather than being haunted for days or weeks as additional files turn up bad (and not all in the OS system files but maybe applications or data).
The REPAIR console option that repairs by copying/replacing all files with original install files is quite different -- in effect a lobotomy (all system files to original edition) instead of finger stitches (NTLdr hardly ever changes). But it will get 2000/XP back on screen if nothing else matters - don't count on registry oriented applications to always survive. But open source applications that keep all configuration in files in install directory will do fine.

Virtual machine technology is COOL. But not always appropriate even if pretty much always works.
You do lose machine power to the host OS as a bare minimum though often that isn't a big problem. If you are hosting on Windows though...well there is addtional licensing overhead sometimes in the form of dollars. So for many common office or home uses, virtual machines are still somewhat of a toy.
And you do need images for virtual machines. If you are going to maintain images. Using and (re)deploying single machine images is a better fit in most cases (especially is sysprep is run first). IBM CBMR is one example of how to backup and redeploy images automatically, if one a little pricey for anyone but larger business. (What is the breakpoint again -- 500 or 5000 users?) There are cheaper and simpler imaging systems for smaller businesses and even individual users. Ghost begin the fit for many smaller shops and even many home users. Of course you give up features and automation as you get cheaper.
Virutal machines are really effective for cramming several servers onto one physical machine when the fit matches physical CPU-memory constraints. Great for critical services that don't use lots of power but need secure isolation from the effects of any other services. It is also a nice crutch for simplifying configurations of production servers. Each virtual machines can be dedicated to provide one service without interference and complications of other services...which means maintenance shutdowns and upgrades are much easier. Also great for network labs where you are experimenting with configuring a new network setup of many machines but you don't want to buy and provide space for many machines.

You should never lose the installed OS, you will however have to call MS and have them reactivate your license. If you are getting the blue screen try giong into the Motherboard bios and configuring the IDE channels and make sure the drives a re being recognized. You have to have some default drivers loaded for the MB to recognize the HDD. Then you can indtall the drivers for the corect chipset.

I support the recommenation to use Microsoft SysPrep. WARNING - Windows 2000 and Windows XP have different verions of the SysPrep programs.
Once you have defined the configuration for each version, you can create a script to install the files for either version from a flash drive, together with a desktop link to launch SysPrep. After running, SysPrep will power down the system. Perform your motherboard maintenance and reboot. Retail versions will require reactivation. This is relatively painless.

I done it several times, BUT only works when you are upgrading hardware, not when the XP is someway corrupted or damaged..., you go in and change main drivers to GENERIC versions (like PATA or SATA driver), USB HUB, Video.. the chipset is the hardest one, but the idea is letting windows start with the new hardware with basic drivers, so it BOOT and you can use the new board CDs and update drivers.

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